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Background

The Unconditional Cash Transfers (UCT) Programme, the core

programme of BISP, was initiated in 2008. The short term objective of
the programme was to cushion the adverse impacts of the food, fuel
and financial crisis on the poor, but its broader objective is to meet the
redistributive goals of the country by providing a minimum income
support package to the chronically poor and those who are more likely
to be affected negatively by future economic shocks.

Since 2005, the purchasing power of many Pakistani families has been
eroded by high inflation and the increasing cost of food and oil. BISP arose
against this backdrop as a means to address reductions in purchasing
power. Along with the economic development aims of the program, BISP
also seeks to empower women by presenting cash transfers directly to
female members of households.

BISP is currently the largest aid program in Pakistan and the government's
third largest budgetary allocation. BISP spending accounts for .3% of
Pakistan's GDP.

In the 20082009 fiscal year, more than 3 million Pakistani families

received cash transfers through BISP; this figure accounts for 15% of the
general population and 40% of the population below the poverty level. For
the 20092010 fiscal year, the program was expanded to cover 5 million
low-income families. At the program's start in 2008, the Pakistani
government allocated RS 34 billion, or $425 million, for BISP; the
allocation doubled to RS 70 billion, or $875 million in the following year.

The Benazir Income Support Programme is planning to launch a new

initiative that encourages human capital development through
a conditional cash transfer. The Waseela-e-Taleem initiative will condition
cash payments on primary school enrolment for the children of eligible
families.

Program Structure
The Benazir Income Support Programme has been implemented in the
provinces of Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan, and Khyber-Pakhtonnkhwa. The
program also operates in the federally administered regions of Azad
Jammu and Kashmir, and the Islamabad Capital Territory.

In its first year of operation, recipients of BISP cash transfers were

identified and selected by Parliamentarians through a process of

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recommendation. Each Parliamentarian received 8,000 forms to distribute
throughout his or her constituency. Selected individuals underwent an
eligibility verification process through the National Database and
Registration Authority. A final list of eligible families was generated and
sent to the postal service. Funds were disbursed from the Treasury directly
to the postal service and then delivered to the female head of eligible
households.

In April 2009, the process for identifying a selecting eligible families

through Parliamentarian recommendation was ended. The identification
process has been reformed and now uses a Poverty Scorecard. Through
the Poverty Scorecard, families are identified through a proxy means
test. The Poverty Scorecard has been approved by the World Bank and
requires families to answer 13 questions regarding assets and expenses in
a survey. The poverty survey has been tested in 16 districts and will be
distributed nationwide.

Internal monitoring systems are being developed to track deliveries and

payment amounts to eligible families. Another mechanism to address
corruption and political favouritism is being considered that would allow a
neutral third party access to the list of eligible families to verify eligibility.

Recently, BISP has expanded to include several special initiatives. The

Waseela-e-Haq program empowers women through the provision of small
loans. A vocation training program, Waseela-e-Rozgar, offers members of
eligible families up to 1 year of professional training. The Waseela-e-Sehat
program provides financial assistance specifically for obtaining basic
health care. BISP will launch its first program that conditions cash
payments on schooling. The Waseela-e-Taleem initiative will require
families receiving cash payments to enroll children between the ages of 5
to 12 to enroll in primary education.

BISP also provides cash payments for emergency relief efforts. These
payments are similar to the payments received by low-income families but
are distributed to families affected by terrorism, war, and natural disasters
such as earthquakes.

Eligibility
To be eligible for cash payments under BISP, families must earn less than
RS 6,000 per month; equivalent to $67. Further eligibility requirements
stipulate that:

Families must have a female applicant holding a valid ID card no

3740580140609

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 An individual applicant must be a widowed or divorced female
without male family members

Eligible families include those with physically or mentally disabled

individuals
Families deemed ineligible for cash payments through BISP include those
with:

Members employed by the Pakistani government, army, or any

other government-affiliated agency

Members drawing a pension or receiving post-retirement benefits

from the government

Family members owning more than 3 acres of farmland or more than

80 square yards of residential land

Members receiving income from other sources

Members holding a machine readable passport

Members with a National Identity Card for Overseas citizens

Members with a bank account excluding microfinance banks and

those catering to low-income families

Targeting

Targeting process consists upon two phases:

Parliamentarian Phase: Phase-I

At the start of BISP UCT Programme in July 2008, no reliable data
was available for the identification of underprivileged and

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 vulnerable people in the country. The task of identification of the
potential beneficiaries of BISP was, therefore, entrusted to the
Parliamentarians, in what was termed as the Phase-I of Targeting.
Application Forms were distributed among the Parliamentarians in
equal number (8000 forms to each member of the National
Assembly and Senate and 1000 forms to each member of the
Provincial Assemblies), irrespective of party affiliation. The forms
received were verified through NADRA database. Out of the total
4.2 million received forms, 2.2 million families were found eligible
for cash transfers. Under this system of targeting, an amount of
Rs. 26.6 billion was disbursed to a total of 1.76 million eligible
families in 2008-09 @Rs.1000/- per family.

Poverty Scorecard Survey: Phase-II

The Parliamentarian Phase had its own shortcomings as it was
difficult for everybody to get access and apply for the programme.
There was also recognition to transform BISP into a modern safety
net system with less politically subjective and more scientific
targeting mechanism. In pursuance of the international best
practices, the Government decided to make reforms by improving
the targeting process and giving equal chances to everyone for
applying to the Programme. The aim was to make targeting of the
poorest in the society more objective and in transparent manner,
so BISP adopted the World Bank designed instrument named
Poverty Scorecard for identification of the poorest. Poverty
Scorecard was based on Proxy Mean Testing for the selection of
deprived/poorest families. A Poverty survey/census was carried
out across Pakistan, which started in 2009, with the technical
assistance of the World Bank. This included step wise
Implementation i.e. Test Phase in year 2009 and National Rollout
in year 2010.

The Nationwide Poverty Scorecard Survey, the first of its kind in

South Asia, enabled BISP to identify eligible households through
the application of a Proxy Means Test (PMT) that determined the
welfare status of the household on a scale between 0-100. The
survey was started in October 2010 (which was conducted by
independent firms hired through a competitive bidding process)
and has been completed across Pakistan except two agencies of
FATA i.e. North and South Waziristan.

Over 27 million households have been covered under Nationwide

Poverty Scorecard Survey that constituted 150.5 million
population across the country. The estimated population during
2010 was 177.94 million which implies the coverage of this survey

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 is around 85 percent. Area wise coverage statistics show that
14.88 million household covered in Punjab, 6.6 million in Sindh,
3.6 million in KPK and 1.1 million in Baluchistan. In AJK around
0.58 million, in GB 0.15 million and in FATA 0.40 million are
covered. Highest coverage was in GB followed by AJK, Sindh and
Punjab.

Table: Area Wise Coverage under Poverty Scorecard Survey

Populati Populati
No. of HHs Estimated on on Eligible
District Covered Populatio Covered Covered Familie
Province s (M) n (M) (M) (%) s (M)

Punjab 39 14.88 94.36 81.18 86.26 2.79

Sindh 27 6.60 38.92 34.29 88.11 2.68

KPK 24 3.64 26.93 21.30 79.09 1.40

Baluchist
an 30 1.10 7.62 6.05 79.40 0.45

AJK 10 0.58 3.87 3.54 88.53 0.12

GB 7 0.15 1.27 1.13 89.44 0.05

FATA 7 0.40 3.69 3.06 82.95 0.21

Total 144 27.35 177.94 150.55 84.61 7.70

Using Poverty Scorecard method, around 7.7 million eligible

families were identified and currently 5.7 million families are
active beneficiaries as of 2016.

The BISP targeting performance falls in top five SSN programmes

in the world. About 48 percent of BISP beneficiaries are coming
from the poorest quintile bottom 20 percent. The BISP targeting
performance compares well with similar programs, including Brazil

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 Bolsa Familia, Mexico Prospera (former Oportunidades), and
Philippines 4P.

Source: ECA SP Performance Indicators, State of Social Safety

Nets 2015, World Bank

The area wise figures show that 2.057 million beneficiaries are in
Punjab, followed by 1.940 million in Sindh, 1.157 million in KP and
0.24 million in Balochistan, respectively.

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 Source: BISP Dashboard

Benefits
Eligible families receive cash payments of RS 1,500 monthly. This amount
increases the purchasing power for families earning approximately RS
5,000 each month by 20%. Most low-income families spend 5070% of
total income on food alone. According to BISP, the cash payment of RS
3,000 every two months, or RS 1,500 each month, will allow a family of 5
6 to purchase 2025 days worth of flour.

Criticism
Since the program's inception, critics have pointed out several overall
flaws in the Benazir Income Support Program design. Some claim that the
amount of RS 3000 bi-monthly, or RS 1,500 per month, is not enough to
move impoverished families above the poverty line as this would require
RS 2,550 per month. Another major flaw with BISP is its lack of
conditionality. Conditional cash transfer programs in Latin America have
experienced greater degrees of success because recipient families must
meet certain requirements before receiving a cash payment. These
programs build human capital through requiring recipients to enroll their
children in primary education, participate in health and nutrition seminars,
and visit health care providers. Apart from the Waseela-e-Taleem initiative,
cash payments do not require recipients to meet particular obligations in
return for cash payments.

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There have also been accusations of corruption and political favouritism.
By some estimates, only 5060 percent of beneficiaries actually receive
cash payments from BISP. The previous method of identifying families
through the recommendation of Parliamentarians was flawed. Many have
claimed that Parliamentarians simply recommended their own family and
friends to receive cash payments. It has been pointed out that there is a
disproportionate number of families receiving BISP aid in geographic areas
where the ruling Pakistan People's Party dominates. For example, in the
Prime Minister's hometown of Multan, there is twice the number of people
receiving BISP payments than in Lahore, the opposition party's stronghold.
Punjab, another area where opposition parties dominate, has the lowest
ratio of eligible families1,974 for every 100,000 people; versus 6,829
families for every 100,000 people in Sindh, the ruling party's stronghold.
Beneficiaries have also complained that the postal service charges an
additional RS 100 to RS 200 for each delivery of payment.

Other critics have argued that as the Benazir Income Support Programme
makes up a substantial portion of the Pakistani government's budget,
impact evaluations should be conducted to evaluate the benefits and
actual need for the program.

Payment Distribution Mechanism

For successful implementation of the programme, efficient and
transparent payments system is essential. BISP experimented different
payments distribution mechanisms. Currently, there are five payment
disbursement mechanisms:

1. Pakistan Post Money Orders

2. Smart Card payment dispersal System
3. Mobile Banking System
4. Debit Card System
5. Bio-Metric Verification System (BVS)

Payments through Pakistan Post

Initially under Phase-1, BISP was distributing its funds through Pakistan
Post in the shape of Money Orders delivered by the postman at the door
step of the beneficiary. This was the first method adopted by BISP for
the disbursement of payments. Additionally, some beneficiaries were
compelled to travel to the Post Office in cases where the
PostOffice/Postman refused to deliver payments at the doorstep of the
beneficiary due to various reasons. Payments are made available after
every two months as per the design of the system. Since its inception,
so far Rs. 64562 million in Phase-I and Rs. 67901 million in Phase-II has

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been disbursed through Pakistan Post. BISP has gradually shifted
beneficiaries from Pakistan Post to other technically sounders modes of
payment.

Table: Year Wise Cash Transfer to BISP Beneficiaries through Post Office

Phase-1 Phase-II

No of Amount No of Amount
Beneficiari Disbursed Beneficiari Disbursed
es (Rs. Million) es (RS. Million)

2008-09 1756371 15807.4

2009-10 2234936 28551.4 318058 3324.369

2010-11 1954998 19117.0 895652 8644.497

2011-12 61501 653.8 3556270 33333.933

2012-13 16020 162.4 1724713 6612.429

2013-14 5433 78.2 312880 4145.4322

2014-15 5432 94.7 317048 5508.819

2015-16 5212 98.0 336330 6332.391

Total 64562.98 67901.87

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Source: Payment Wing

Smart Card Payment Dispersal System

Due to complaints received about the Pakistan Post payment system,

Smart Card payment mechanism was introduced in a few districts
(Multan, Mianwali, Sanghar and MirpurKhas) in 2010 as an alternative to
the Pakistan Post system. The Benazir Smart Card (BSC) is an Automatic
Teller Machine (ATM) type card which allows the beneficiaries to collect
their transferred installment from different franchises in the district.
These franchises were authorized by BISP and provided with the
required cash for payment to the beneficiary. UBL is the partner bank
for BSCs. The beneficiary was required to collect the payment
personally from the franchise on identification through her CNIC. A
receipt was also signed by the beneficiary. So far Rs. 12896 million has
been disbursed through Smart Card.

Table: Year Wise Cash Transfer to BISP Beneficiaries through Benazir

Smart Card

Amount Disbursed
No of Beneficiaries (RS. Million)

2009-10 23025 69.1

2010-11 174936 1456.9

2011-12 166715 1777.9

2012-13 173630 2258.0

2013-14 172239 2305.2

2014-15 171823 2900.2

2015-16 95706 2129.1

Total 12896.46

Source: Payment Wing

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Mobile Banking Payment Mechanism

BISP started delivering cash grants through mobile banking in

December 2010. This was to be rolled out in eight districts but due to
security situation, could only be started in five districts (Layyah,
Larkana, Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Battagram). In this mode of
payment, beneficiaries are provided a mobile set and a SIM card, and
are informed of the availability of payment by an Interactive Voice
Response (IVR) Service. The payment is then collected from a franchise
using the Personal Identification Number (PIN) that is also sent via text
message. The beneficiary is required to collect the payment personally
from the franchise on identification through her CNIC. A receipt is also
signed by the beneficiary. Rs. 10021 million has been disbursed through
Mobile Phone.

Table: Year Wise Cash Transfer to BISP Beneficiaries through Benazir

Mobile Phone

Amount
No of Disbursed (RS.
Beneficiaries Million)

2010-11 70878 444.1

2011-12 139460 1318.9

2012-13 148424 1633.0

2013-14 143328 1963.3

2014-15 131962 2335.8

2015-16 126385 2326.7

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Total 10021.8

Source: Payment Wing

Debit Card Payment Mechanism

From February 2012 BISP started a major changeover in payment

system from money orders delivered by Pakistan Post to payments
through Benazir Debit Cards (BDCs). This mode of payment is based on
an ATM card which allows the beneficiary to withdraw payment
installments through the ATM of a bank authorized by BISP. BISP
transfers the funds to the bank who in turn distributes it to the
beneficiaries. This is the latest mode of payment and is now being
introduced in all the districts.

Table: Year Wise Cash Transfer to BISP Beneficiaries through Benazir

Debit Card

Amount Disbursed
No of Beneficiaries (RS. Million)

2011-12 1305507 3916.5

2012-13 3308491 32637.2

2013-14 4011676 56623.9

2014-15 4445716 77746.9

2015-16 4648754 85767.7

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 Total 256692.1

Source: Payment Wing

Proposed Improvements in the existing payment mechanism using BVS

Over a period of time BISP has undergone various experiences starting

from Pakistan Post, Mobile Phone payment, and payment through smart
cards. Lastly the Benazir Debit Card was found to be the best suited for
payment purpose. Under the existing system, payments are made
through Debit cards from the touch points of the partner banks which
include both ATMs and POS. As observed over a period of time the
prevalent instrument (BDC) used for withdrawal too has
limitations/weaknesses like:

1. Mostly are being illiterate beneficiaries dont know how to use the
card.
2. Frequent complaints of card loss/damaged
PIN code lost
1. Middlemen involvement in card usage under the garb of facilitation
to the beneficiary whereby commission is charged by the middlemen.

According to the current statistics more than 80% complaints are

related to card issuance, replacement and PIN code lost. Being
cognizant of the service delivery issues BISP management has taken
certain steps aimed at improvement in existing payment mechanism to
serve the beneficiaries in a transparent and efficient manner. Based on
lesson learned another user friendly approach has been conceived for
payment through biometric verification system (BVS). One of the
important measures is change in withdrawal instrument; in future
beneficiaries would withdraw money through biometric verification.
Salient features of the new model are as follows;

CNIC+BIOMETRIC+SIM CARD: This approach to begin with will be

adopted at agents locations where payment is drawn by the beneficiary
from POS. Under this approach there would be certain districts
particularly currently being handled by Pakistan Post and other six
districts of mobile banking and smart card would be given preference.
These are the districts where there is less availability of ATMs and major
reliance is on POS network. However, as per the instructions of State
Bank of Pakistan all Banks are under obligation to introduce BVS at all
touch points in due course of time. BISP will complete conversion of all
operations under different modes of payments i.e Pakistan Post, BDC,

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Smart card and mobile phone to BVS till June 2017 starting from
September 2016. The proposed model would have following strengths:

It ensures personal presence of the beneficiary at the time of

withdrawal of money contrary to the existing one where the beneficiary
herself is not self- recipient of money in majority of cases.
Less complicated security tiers of withdrawal; only CNIC would be
presented at POS by the beneficiary to verify her credentials before
making payments.
Beneficiary does not require high level of financial literacy for
withdrawal of money as required for usage of Debit card.
SIM card will be only for the purpose of tagging with beneficiaries
accounts establishing direct communication linkages with the
beneficiary to inform about available balance in her Account and other
related communications as and when required. SIM card will not be
tagged with cash out purpose as a security layer while it will help
facilitate in establishing communication links with beneficiaries which
would save them from exploitation by unscrupulous agents of the
society, besides, SMS/IVR alerts for her accounts activities would
become possible, and it would also help in complaint management by
BISP.
The proposed model will enhance transparency with minimum
involvement of human factor as the transactions will be relying on
systems, instead of human involvement.
Implementation status
16. a) Conversion of Smart card districts to BVS: Four districts i.e.
Multan ii) Mianwali iii) Sangher iv) Mirpurkhas have been shifted to
payment through Biometric Verification System (BVS). A total of 95000/
beneficiaries in four districts have switched over to BVS since last
quarter tranche 2015-16. Around 87% beneficiaries have successfully
withdrawn their tranche making use of biometric system. Besides,
Larkana District, with beneficiary count of 64000 has already shifted to
BVS since June 2016.
17. b) Mobile banking districts: Two districts i.e. Layyah and
Batagram are being shifted to BVS based withdrawal from the
disbursement of 1st quarter tranche by the end of September 2016. A
total of 61000 beneficiaries in these two districts will be benefited/ paid
through biometric verification by start of 1st quarter tranche. Besides,
two more districts (BDC) i.e Buner and Rahim Yar Khan are also being
shifted to BVS during said tranche.
18. c) Post office Districts: Currently 332,000 beneficiaries in 32
districts throughout the country are being served through Pakistan Post.
All these districts are already allocated amongst existing Banks. Due to
connectivity, outreach and law and order situation in these districts the
disbursement was made through Pakistan Post. Now due to
improvement in law and order situation and connectivity in these areas,
the partner banks are being engaged to operate in these districts. By
disbursement of last quarter tranche of 2016-17 Post office districts are

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 planned to be handled 100% by partner banks ensuring BVS withdrawal
in the areas of their respective jurisdiction.
19. d) Conversion of existing POS to BVS: The existing partner
banks will convert all POSs on biometric withdrawal; a complete road
map with the banks is being finalized so as to complete switch over to
BVS by June 2017. During negotiation with the banks for extension in
contracts for next term of one year, the banks would be under
obligation to meet the shortfall of agreed point of sales (POS) and
ensure 100% biometric enabled POS for withdrawal by end of current
FY. 2016-17. Moreover State Bank has also issued instructions to all
financial institutions to ensure biometric based withdrawal by 30th
June, 2017. All BDC operations are expected to shift to BVS by June
2017. 70% of BISP payments will be done biometrically by Dec, 2017.
20. e) Monitoring mechanism: In order to mitigate beneficiarys
grievances comprehensive monitoring mechanism is being devised to
monitor and supervise operational activities at POS level to ensure
grievance redressal of the beneficiaries. Under SBP regulations the
partner Banks are under obligation to put in place a robust agents
oversight mechanism and submit monthly report on such complaints
against agents which includes punitive actions i.e. blacklisting and
termination of their contracts. In collaboration with partner banks a
joint monitoring mechanism will be put in place to enhance oversight
on performance of agent network to mitigate grievances of the
beneficiaries.
21. g) Performance indicators: BISP has defined certain performance
indicators with timelines for the partner banks to fulfill performance
milestones i.e establishment of new POS where required, conversion of
existing BDC, mobile phone and post office operations to BVS,
complaints against payment agents (POS), payment related grievances
of beneficiaries etc. In case of non-compliance to achieve the defined
service delivery milestones, penalty levels against each indicator have
also been defined.

Till date 90% of beneficiaries drawing their Income support funds

through debit card, 1% through Mobile banking and 3% through
Biometric mechanism and 6% still receiving funds through Pakistan Post
due to Security and connectivity issues in remote and sensitive areas
including FATA and Baluchistan.

Key Achievements over the Last Two

Years
For the first time payments have been made on time during 2014-15
and 2015-16. Ten quarterly beneficiary grants have been successfully
disbursed, including 8 quarterly grants and two mini generations. BISP
has made significant improvement in contract management. For

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example, marked reduction in service charges is done. Service charges
have been reduced from 4% to 2.75% in Smart Card and Mobile cases
while from 3.1% to 2.75% charges have been reduced in case of BDC.

Significant improvement in payment mechanism has been made to

make it more efficient, transparent and user-friendly. To promote
transparency and ensure accountability BISP has various technology
based initiatives including:

Payment Verification Interface (PVI)

Online Monitoring through Dashbaord
E-Office
Payment Complaints Management System(PCMS)

Point of Sale (POS)

Rationalization
BISP is committed to deliver payment services to its beneficiaries
closest to their door step. BISP beneficiaries are dispersed in wide
geographical locations across the ATM availability. This exercise has
highlighted the fact that the partner banks are deficient in establishing
POSs causing difficulties to beneficiaries in getting cash on time closer
to their homes. Negotiations are being held with the banks to increase
number of POS agents and ATM to match beneficiary
concentration.country and it is a challenge for BISP to provide the
disbursement services in a cost effective manner. In this context, BISP
has recently undertaken an assessment of the POS.

Improvements in Field Operations of BISP

Field operations have been re organized as North and South operations.
Spot checks during payment disbursement days were initiated. Field
officers are required to visit at least one payment site on daily basis..
Active monitoring was carried out by field operations in the smart card
districts Mac binding of PCMS IDs of Assistant Directors has been done
which reduce 99 percent of misuse of IDs. It may be noted that 80 percent
corruption cases are associated with misuse of IDs through which BDC are
replaced by AD in tehsil offices

Steps Taken to Address Corruption

In order to show BISPs resolve for zero tolerance against corruption, Field
operations have sent eight cases of different nature to FIA for
investigation. This has helped curb the role of touts and agents

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significantly by creating strong deterrence for any financial
mismanagement. Cases related to the possible banks role in corruption
and fraud are also sent to FIA Cyber Crime wing after preliminary
investigations as these are very complicated in nature and require
expertise that BISP does not have. A proposal has been developed by the
M&E wing for establishment of Vigilance Cell at BISP to monitor and
preempt fraudulent practices through softwares generated alerts. This is a
very sophisticated data analysis tool which generates reports on daily
basis and will help in effective monitoring of Banks and Field operations
alike. Field Operations have also initiated number of in house inquiries to
strengthen the slogan of Say NO TO CORRUPTION.

BISP FORI RABTA (Helpline)

General public and BISP beneficiaries can register their complaints on BISP
hotline number 0800-26477. It works from 9am to 11pm. Various
dashboards have been designed and Corporate Management adopted for
efficient and improved service delivery. Chairperson, BISP goes live on
Radio Pakistan along with Case Management Specialist on weekly basis.
BISP beneficiaries from all the provinces including FATA, Gilgit-Baltistan and
Kashmir inform Chairperson about their grievances and discuss their
problems. The issues of beneficiaries are resolved on spot through case
management system.

Introduction of Quick Book

BISP has introduced new accounting systems such as QuickBook software
in order to streamline its internal accounting procedures. Moreover,
systematic reconciliation with Partner Banks is in place since Nov, 2015 to
ensure accurate, transparent payments & withdrawals.

Impact Evaluation
Keeping in view the importance of impact evaluation, the Government
of Pakistan has contracted Oxford Policy Management (OPM) to
undertake a rigorous evaluation of the programmes impact. Following
are the key findings of the first follow-up report conducted by OPM:

Primary Impact

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 BISP is having an impact on increasing consumption expenditure
and reducing poverty for households within the relevant RD treatment
sub-sample. The evaluation indicates that per adult equivalent monthly
consumption expenditure has induced a net increase for the RD
treatment sub-sample of Rs. 318. Overall BISP causes a 22% point
reduction in poverty for the RD treatment group
BISP has induced a fall in the depth of poverty. It was found that
BISP has reduced the poverty gap by 6 percentage points for the RD
treatment group. This means that BISP has led to an improvement in
the welfare of beneficiary households such that they are not only less
likely to be under the poverty line, but also that those who remain in
poverty are closer to the poverty line.
BISP has reduced rates of malnutrition amongst girls (aged 0-59
months) as measured by wasting, a measure of short-term
malnutrition.
64% of female beneficiaries report that they retain control over the
cash transfer, in terms of how the transfer is spent. This result appears
to hold regardless of whether the beneficiary actually collects the
transfer herself.

Secondary Impact
BISP has caused a change in the livelihood strategies adopted in
beneficiary households. BISP has decreased the proportion of working
aged men engaged in casual labour but increased the proportion of
men who are self-employed. This indicates that BISP may be supporting
the adoption of less vulnerable livelihood strategies.
BISP reduces the proportion of boys who engage in child labour.
BISP is associated with an increase in the reported expenditure on
health, increasing per adult equivalent health expenditure by around
Rs. 50.
BISP has induced an increase in the propensity to save amongst
beneficiary households in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The payment
mechanism also presents an (untapped) potential to improve the
financial access of beneficiary households.

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